Barclays given a $109M fine for mishandling super-rich

It was announced that Barclays was hit with a £72 million ($108.5 million) fine on Thursday, with a U.K. regulator making claims that it had worked with “ultra-high-net-worth clients” in a manner that could have helped financial crimes take place.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the U.K. bank, which has a market capitalization of £37.6 billion ($56.7 billion) went to “unacceptable lengths to accommodate the clients.”

This is in relation to a £1.88 billion transaction that Barclays conducted in 2011 and 2012 on behalf of these rich clients, which was the biggest of its kind that the bank had executed for individuals.

In a news release on Thursday, Barclays stated that it had cooperated with the FCA throughout the investigation and “continues to apply significant resources and training to ensure compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements.”

The FCA said that the U.K. bank went to “unacceptable lengths” to accommodate the clients who were “politically exposed persons” and should have been subject to increased monitoring and due diligence, they however do not find that an actual financial crime took place.

Instead, Barclays applied a lower level of due diligence than its policies required for business relationships with a lower risk profile, the FCA said.

Barclays did not follow its standard procedures, preferring instead to take on the clients as quickly as possible and thereby generate £52.3 million in revenue, it said

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